Harry shook his head. "I think I could be the only one who COULD use it. I can control how the magic connects to me, so I can enable only one core or the other. Anyone else would just create fire all the time." He grinned. "Heck, it is like an overly destructive security system. How much for it?"
The old man pointed at the boxes of wands still on the counter. "The standard design is actually subsidized by Hogwarts, the Ministry, and private donations. It is why wands are so cheap despite the cost of parts. That wand would probably work out to around 400 Galleons or so."
The boy grinned. "Sounds like money well spent, no?"
Minerva cast a quiet tempus to see the time. It had taken longer than expected in "Eeylops Owl Emporium" before she found the perfect owl, a beauty of a snow white thing. She had vague memories of leaving the boy on a doorstep for goodness sake, and even if she couldn't go back and fix the past she could at least give him a good birthday gift.
As she reached Ollivander's she saw him standing out front holding something scaly. He quickly looked up and stared in shock at the beautiful owl.
Harry felt his magic reaching out in ropes almost without thought as he stared into the jewel-bright eyes of an amazing white color. As his threads touched her, he could feel her rich earth threads wrapping into and through his bright green ones.
It wasn't words, but emotions. She was scared to be in a new place, but she was so happy to be out of the noisy crowded place. This woman had brought her here. The Professor saw Harry's expression and had to hide a smile. "Mr. Potter, as I and many of your family's friends have been unable to celebrate your birthday, I would like to give you a gift." She gently handed the cage to the young boy. "As I am sure you read in the letter, you are allowed an owl at school. It will also help you stay in contact with the magical world."
Harry couldn't focus, but mumbled a thanks to his soon-to-be teacher. "Hello beautiful, my name is Harry Potter. Would you like to be my friend?"
He felt something tug on his threads, and the emotions became MUCH stronger. As he watched the rich brown of his new companion became streaked with his green, the connection fading into strands of a much lighter brown. He felt her joy at making this connection, as if she had found home. He grinned as she nibbled his finger from inside the cage. Professor McGonagall checked the time again to the fascination of Harry. Catching his gaze, she held up a finger. "Now remember, underage wand use is forbidden when you are not at school. You will be doing all kinds of spells and such soon enough. However time runs short, and we need to pick up your books."
The discussion on the way to the book store was both enlightening and frustrating. Apparently legislation had passed requiring all wands have tracking spells added that reported spell usage, magical signature, and if possible the target. All of that was fine... except the part where it reported all these events to the Ministry, who would send warnings, fines, or even expulsions if the spells were from underage wizards or witches. Apparently someone had decided it was easier to force all below 17 to not use magic rather than teach them to do it in private. Needless to say, Harry now had a project to focus on. If he could see magical connections, maybe he could block them and get some REAL practice in during the summers. He would be caught of course if anyone checked his wand locally, but he only really cared about the remote logging of his actions.
Not that he would abuse unlimited, unwatched magic. Heavens no.
Harry had found heaven.
Apparently it was located between an Ice Cream parlor and an abandoned shop that used to sale magic carpets, but it was clearly heaven.
It was also named "Flourish & Blotts".
BOOKS.
He had been so surprised that he had almost dropped his new friend (They had decided on the name Hedwig. Harry had tried "Danger Owl" but had been bitten for what they both agreed were perfectly reasonable reasons and yes he would buy more owl treats and yes he was sorry.)
Harry regained his calm, gently placed Hedwig's cage on the counter, and tried to keep his eyes of the shelves and shelves of awesomeness.
He turned to a young saleswoman who seemed amused by his near accident at the door. "Excuse me, could I leave my owl here while shopping?"
The lady nodded. "Of course dear! In fact you may want to borrow one of our shopping bags if you are getting school books." She handed one over, and he could feel the larger inside along with some sort of featherweight at work.
Before he got too distracted, he tried to focus directly on her. "I am sorry, I didn't catch your name. I am Harry." She giggled. New students were adorable, and this one was so polite! Like a little man. "Well Harry, my name is Sally Blotts. My great grandfather started this bookshop. Is there something in particular you are looking for?"
Harry nodded and pulled out his wallet. "I heard that you sell something called a Master Book."
Sally blinked. "Well... uh. Yes, but they tend to be quite expensive." She waved her hand at a display behind the counter, where three books lay on purple silk pillows. "I have only sold a few in years. You do know what they do, correct?"
He nodded, and showed her his Gringott's Key. As had happened in a few previous stores, she looked surprised by the color. Apparently Nagnok had set him up with something special. "Ah, I see. Well, we have two models right now. The standard one as you know allows access to all the books you currently own, and be able to search them for content, author, publisher, or whatever. We do have a more advanced one however." She still seemed hesitant to go into details.
Harry grinned and leaned forward. "Do go on, I was sold before I even entered here."
She giggled and seemed to relax. "Well, the advanced one is a bit heavier and a lot more expensive, but it allows you to add blank journals to your library and write into them directly from the Master Book." She picked up a random black book. "Just bind a blank book the way you would any other, and include a title directly above your signature. You can then access it, with you marked as author. You can have journals for your notes for example, and if you pick one of the everlasting journals that generate new pages as you reach the end, you would only need one per subject." He was almost drooling. "You are far too talented to work in a book shop. Is there a discount if I buy blanks in bulk?"
Sally tilted her head. "Hmm. Sure, I don't see why not. If you are buying that much, you would certainly be one of our special customers. How about 10% off if you buy over 30?"
He grinned. "Add 60 to my list then. Do you have an Owl order service like some of the other shops?"
She was still stunned at the previous number, but quickly rallied. If he liked the master book, then he would probably want this as well. "We do of course, but that can be a bit annoying if you tend to buy books often." She handed him a slim, red volume. "This is our Publish List. It has a listing of all items we currently posses, as well as books we plan to own in the future. Each book has a summary of content and we link to reviews about the quality as well." She pressed on the title of a book and a new page appeared behind the current one listing detailed information along with reviews.
.
.
.
👓☕️Consider supporting me and enhance your reading experience with the ready-to-read PDFs I have on my Ko-fi.☕️👓
🎯https://ko-fi.com/bstories🎯